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CNET First Look

Pebble 2 is like the comfy dad jeans of smartwatches

A low-key design, plus basic fitness tracking features. Pebble's new watch is affordable, comfortable, but it's not very sexy. Does that matter?

1:32 / October 5, 2016

Transcript

Some days you wanna just wanna be comfy.
Put on your dad jeans.
That's Pebble.
In a world of smart watches with shorter battery life and higher end features, Pebble watches have opted for longer batteries, simple always-on displays and basic functions.
They're utilitarian.
And the new Pebble 2 goes right for the Casio watch crowd with its design.
Which look like the original from 2013 by Compact and it cost a $130 for the heart rate version which isn't bad at all.
Somewhere between fitness tracker and Fallon's smart watch.
That's Pebble 2. Pebble can record sleep and step tracking automatically and the newest edition is heart rate tracking which works for ransom workouts.
All in all not a bad package.
But dedicated fitness trackers do it better.
The Pebble +2 heart rate does just enough to be fine for casual use and it syncs in to Apples health kit in Google Fit.
Pebble's new software update adds pop up notifications for things like timeline information and an app menu that shows more at once.
But boy that text gets small.
The apps and watch faces that Pebble boast feel, well, more of a palm pilot era.
At least getting weather, sports scores, messages, and ever replying to text and email through a built in microphone are possible, and the whole thing is 30 meters waterproof.
Of course, you can also get [UNKNOWN] time or time skill, both of which do steps and sleep and have color screens and are frequently on sale.
Or wait for time too.
Which is a larger color display.
Level two is like my jeans.
I might wear them.
You might not.

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